A known electrical connector, according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,633, comprises, an insulating housing and electrical contacts in the housing, and solder tails on the contacts that are connected to circuit traces on a circuit board by solder reflow connections. Solder reflow connections are accomplished by engaging the solder tails against solidified solder covering the circuit traces, followed by reflowing the solder to a molten state. The reflowed solder is then solidified to join the solder tails with the circuit traces.
Effective solder joints are assured by positioning the solder tails in coplanar alignment with one another prior to solder reflow. According to the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,633, coplanar alignment of the solder tails is assured because the solder tails are resiliently deflected when they are pressed against the circuit board. The pressed contacts resiliently deflect into coplanar alignment. U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,832, discloses bending of contacts projecting from a connector housing. Again, the contacts are pressed against a circuit board.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,017, surface mount contacts comprise surface mount contact surfaces along edges of nonresilient plates. Because the plates are nonresilient, they are difficult to align in a connector housing such that the surface mount contacts remain in coplanar alignment with one another.